


Exhaustion

by UwUAdvocate



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-06 01:55:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20283484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UwUAdvocate/pseuds/UwUAdvocate
Summary: A better reunion between Claude and F!Byleth that we all deserved.Byleth is exhausted from her duties as queen and needs a special someone to make her feel better.





	Exhaustion

**Author's Note:**

> Listen, we all know that Claude's epilogue sucked and we deserved better. Plus I'm a melt for needy kisses and stuff. Please enjoy.

For the past few months, Byleth struggled to fall asleep. Every night she tried to doze off in bed, her mind clouded with endless thoughts and occasional nightmares. In fact, the only way she found sleep without the use of special vulneraries or spells would be when her pillow turned out to be the endless piles of paperwork and letters that she collapsed into while working on. Week after week, Lorenz or Ignatz would walk in expecting their requests to be fulfilled by the Queen of Fodlan only to find her drooling onto their very letters. 

Of course she was embarrassed to admit it, but Byleth knew the reason for her troubled sleep. Claude, or rather, the lack of Claude. Every night she tossed and turned, craving the warmth of his body wrapped around her, but she always found the bed to be cold where he should be. Tonight that was painfully obvious, as Byleth was sitting in front of the fireplace while twisting the wedding band around in her fingers. It had been six months since Claude had left to fulfill his dreams, and despite the letters he had sent, nothing compared to seeing him smile. 

Byleth decided to draw a bath to relax, the workload being exceptionally heavy this week and her back was painfully stiff. She stood up and walked to her bathroom, lighting the candles that decorated the room, filling the tub with water, and adding the lavender oil that she kept in the cabinetry. Byleth shed her clothes, dipping her body in the hot water, submerging her head for a second before finding a comfortable position and shutting her eyes. The lavender oil along with the water made her back relax, the knots and points of tension slowly disappearing. Soon enough, Byleth had stayed in the water past the point of her fingers becoming wrinkled, but she wouldn’t get out of the bath for a while. Her eyes had become heavy, and she eventually fell asleep in the warm bath, and while it wasn't the best, it was sleep nonetheless.

She eventually woke to knocking at her quarter’s door, sunlight filtering through the blinds. Byleth exited the tub, wrapping herself in her robe she had placed beside the tub the night before, and walked to the door, opening it as another knock sounded. She was greeted by the sight of Ignatz, his face flushing at the sight of Byleth dripping wet and dressed in only a robe, and he struggled to speak, stumbling over his words.

“I-I’m sorry for interrupting your, uh, bath?” Ignatz seemed unsure of his words, obviously not expecting Byleth to be in the state she is. He regained his composure, handing her a bundle of papers and letters before speaking again. “Here are your papers for this week. I’ve separated the follow-up letters and new inquiries for your convenience.” Byleth takes the stack with her hands, skimming through them slightly.

“Thank you, Ignatz. Sorry for turning up at my door like this, I just woke up after falling asleep in my bath.” She looks up at him, her face devoid of much emotion, but he could catch on to her verbal cues of embarrassment.

“No, no! I shouldn’t have expected you to be awake at this hour,” Ignatz was getting flustered again, but his expression turned to concern, “You should get more rest, a day longer before you respond to everyone won’t hurt.”

Byleth sighed, as this conversation seems to come up more often than not.

“Ignatz, this is my responsibility as ruler of Fodlan. If I am not punctuー”

“Responding to nobles and merchants should not compromise your health!”

“Enough. Thank you for bringing these. You are dismissed.”

With that, Byleth shut the door. She hated those discussions, and she hated that they were right. She knew that the long nights and lack of sleep made her frail and irritable and secluded and just plain unhealthy, but she needed to ensure her country was stable before she could worry about herself. After setting the papers down on her desk, Byleth ran her hands through her damp hair and went to get properly dressed. 

  


Soon enough, Byleth was down three cups of tea and had only made a tiny dent in the pile of papers. With the bath and the constant urge to pull it out of frustration, her hair was in all sorts of disarray with spots of ink smudged into her light green locks from messy movements of the quill. The letter she was currently on was from Count Gloucester, in which Lorenz had requested being used as kindling for the common room fireplace. While it was no secret Lorenz had some form of distaste for his father, Byleth had no intention of angering a noble of his standing; however, as she read on, she increasingly became more and more interested in the prospect of seeing the sad excuse of a request burn to ash. 

Upon finishing the letter and seeing the obnoxious, and above all else, unnecessarily gargantuan signature, she threw her head back and released a half-scream, half-cry of agony. She mumbled to herself, “No wonder where Lorenz got his pompous attitude,” and dragged her hands down her face, undoubtedly adding more ink to her skin. Instead of continuing on with that mess, she decided to look through the rest of the papers she had yet to work on, when something caught her eye. One of the letters held a seal of the Almayran court, and Byleth’s heart jumped, or at least, would have. 

A knock sounded on her door once again, breaking her away from her urge to rip the letter open in the hope it was from her husband. Wanting to just ignore the knock, she reached for the letter only to have another group of knocks interrupt her. With a groan Byleth shoved her chair away from the desk, getting up and making her way to the door expecting another round of tea from Lorenz. She unlatched the door, preparing for another conversation about her health from the heir, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose in anticipation of the headache soon to come.

“Lorenz, I don’t think I can handle another pot of tea.” 

“Good thing I’m not Lorenz then, Teach.”

Byleth’s eyes shot open, heart in her throat before she even had her eyes adjust to the bright yellow outfit in front of her. Claude. Her husband. Standing inches away, his usual smug smirk decorating his face, leaning back with his hands behind his head, a habit he hasn’t seemed to break since the days of her teaching him.

“Claude?” Byleth could hardly manage to get his name out, tears on the verge of spilling out of her eyes despite the giant smile she wore. Claude moved his hands from behind his head, choosing to cup Byleth’s cheek, wiping the tears away with his gloved hand. 

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” his voice was almost a whisper as he drew her close, pressing his lips to her forehead as he began to hug her. He chuckled slightly, pulling away ever so slightly to look at his Teach’s face, wiping away the ink smudged on her temples. 

“Seems that you’re confused on what surface to write on. It’s supposed to be the paper, not your hair and face.” Claude’s voice had a certain smugness, one that he tended to use to tease Byleth when they were around each other. 

“It’s been months since I’ve seen you, yet you haven’t changed one bit, have you, Mr. Riegan?” Byleth had chosen to respond with an equally snarky remark, knowing how much Claude disliked being named formally. She smiled up at him, hands drifting up to his jawline, pulling his face close to hers, and kissed him. She could feel him smile into the kiss, placing his hands on the curve of her waist. As they broke apart, Claude gripped her hips and pulled her up, holding her against him so her head was slightly above his. He grinned at Byleth’s confused look, only to pull her into another kiss before she could speak. He spun around with her, Byleth’s hands gripping onto his shoulders so she wouldn’t fall, or so she could kiss him more.

As he stopped spinning, he made his way into her chambers, pushing the door closed with the tap of his boot and setting his wife down on her feet. 

“You look surprised to see me, Teach,” once again, Claude leaned back with his hands behind his head, this time against the wall, “did you not get my letter?”

“Letter?” Byleth sounded confused, only to glance at the piles of papers and spotting the Almayra-yellow envelope that she was about to open. Claude followed her eyes and slightly frowned at the sight.

“Teach, don’t tell me this is all that you have been doing,” Claude’s voice held a tone of sadness as he walked over to her, tilting her head to face him, and seeing the deep circles shadowing her eyes. “Is this why you said  _ another _ pot of tea?” 

Byleth’s cheeks flushed, looking away in embarrassment. She felt like a child being caught up in the middle of the night by their parents. 

“I’ve had to respond to so many people that I just can’t afford to rest as much as I used to,” Byleth then looked up to meet Claude’s gaze, her voice now hushed, “not like I could without you next to me.”

“I-,” Claude seemed at a loss of words, an occurrence so rare for the man. His frown deepened, looking down at his favorite person in guilt. “It’s been too long, Teach.” His face moved down so he could whisper in Byleth’s ear, wanting her to know that he means the next few words between them.

“But now, you won’t have to stay far from me, no matter how hard you try.” With that, Claude cupped her face, crashing his lips against hers eagerly. Byleth wasted no time returning the action, wrapping her hands around his neck and deepening the kiss. His lips tasted like Almayran pine needle tea, and hers like lavender. The combination would be distasteful in any other situation, but they instead relished in it. Claude’s hands found their way to her hips, steadying her as they kissed until they had to gasp for air. But that didn’t stop Byleth. She needed to feel his soft lips against her, needed to use her calloused hands to feel the body she so desperately missed, needed to feel the warmth missing from her bed. She needed him. 

With that line of thinking permeating every part of her brain, she couldn’t resist. Her hands traveled through his dark hair, brushing against his beard, skimming his neck, and settled on his overshirt. She needed that off. With fumbling hands, he unbuttoned the golden fabric, clearly catching on to Byleth’s wants, her needs. They slowly made their way to her bed, Claude barely getting his shirt off before collapsing into bed. With that, she climbed on top of him, lips separating as tears started to drip down her face. After removing his gloves, Claude wiped the tears away once more and brought his love’s head to rest on his bare chest. His heartbeat was racing, but the rhythm of it brought a smile to Byleth’s face; this feeling she could never have herself was the one thing that made her feel the most human. While the calloused fingers of her husband ran through her tangled hair, Byleth’s breathing slowed as she slept. For the first time in months, sleep came easily to her, and nothing could make her happier.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This is my first fanfic ever so yay!! I'll write more soon, but school just started again and sis needs some fat naps.


End file.
